Legal Document Translation Services Help Prevent Malpractice Claims
Legal document translations play an important role in the context of international attorney malpractice. In a recent case a major international law firm had a negligence claim brought against it by a property consultancy company relating to advice it gave to a client, Northern Rock, on fraudulent property transactions. The claim sought contribution to the £1.6m settlement the company paid to Northern Rock over alleged negligence by the firm on three property transactions.
The original claim was for negligent advice that failed to prevent an alleged fraud by a third party in property deals where the bank advanced a total of £6.75m for 15 flats in the London area. As a result of the alleged negligence, Northern Rock claimed a loss of £2.1m.
One of the many issues complicating this matter is the issue of international law and international business. Many of the companies involved, including the firm, are international institutions operating across borders and – as in this case – across legal jurisdictions. Whenever an attorney or firm practices across borders they become exposed to various standards in attorney ethics. To best protect oneself against a foreign malpractice case, it is essential they become familiar with the requirements of that jurisdiction. If the foreign jurisdiction operates in a foreign language, then the code of attorney conduct should have a foreign language translation done before any work is taken up.
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